The Jam, Stiff Little Fingers, solo and more

“I hope myself and Paul can stay friendly and keep playing on each other’s records,” Bruce Foxton says of his recent collaborations with his former The Jam bandmate Paul Weller. “None of that was planned, so, I don’t know. I don’t think they’ll ever be a The Jam reformation, but I’d like to think that we’ll play on each other’s records in the future.”

Playing on each other’s records is exactly what the pair have done in recent years. Weller guested on Foxton’s last solo effort Back In The Room, in fact. It adds another chapter to the longstanding partnership between the two, a musical meeting which began with the pair’s monumentally successful time together in The Jam.

Following Weller’s decision to split the band while at the peak of their powers, Foxton went on to launch a solo career and then join punk survivors Stiff Little Fingers, before his path crossed with Weller once more.

As we spoke to Bruce we were keen to delve into this rich history of music making as he picked out the songs that shaped his career.